Magnet having dry pressed flower sealed therein

ABSTRACT

A magnetically attachable sealed pressed flower in which a sheet 3 having a pressed dry flower 2 is sealed and fixed by melting and fixing therein is disposed integrally on one surface of a sheet-shaped magnet substrate 1, which can improve the degree of freedom for the selection and alteration of the position or replacement of the kinds of pressed flowers and also enables re-utilization.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention concerns a magnetically attachable sealed flowerarticle. More in particular, the invention relates to a magneticallyattachable sealed pressed flower article in which a pressed dry flowerof a natural color and shape is easily attached as a decorative articlefor interiors such as used in houses or office rooms, or in automobileson the surfaces of metal plates or metal products, and detachment andreplacement thereof is also easy.

2. Related Art

Sheet-shaped magnets formed by fixing and integrating a magnetic powderby means of a resin binder on a resin sheet such as made of vinylchloride resin and then magnetizing them have been known. They have beenput to practical use in that letters, symbols or characters such as ofanimals, persons, landscapes and flowering plants are disposed as acolor print layer on one surface of the resin sheet of the sheet-shapedmagnet and utilized as accessories or interior articles, or asstationeries or teaching supplies.

However, such existent magnet sheet articles have a limit in view of thedesign or tone of the print layer on the resin sheet when they areutilized as articles for interiors or furnitures having feeling of highquality and are not satisfactory as decorative functional articles.

On the other hand, various sheets, seals or cards formed by laminatingpressed dry flowers with a resin have been proposed so far. Further,articles having such lamination products appended on telegraph blanks,plastic plates or wooden plates, as well as glass or metal plates havealso been known.

However, such decorative pressed flower articles have not beenconsidered as products having general applicability. For instance, therehas not been considered to optionally change the position of attachmenton the surfaces of walls or furnitures or replacing them with anotherpressed flower articles, as well as to cut out the pressed flower alongthe periphery thereof for reuse including technical means therefor.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is, accordingly, an object of the present invention to overcome theproblems in the existent magnet sheet articles and decorative presseddry flower articles, respectively, and provide a novel magneticallyattachable sealed pressed flower article which has not even beensuggested from the foregoing existent articles, and which can takeadvantage of the sealed pressed flower articles, has generalapplicability described above and can be re-used by cutting out as aninterior decorative article.

The foregoing object of the present invention can be attained inaccordance with a magnetically attachable sealed pressed flower articlein which a sheet having a pressed dry flower sealed and fixed therein isdisposed integrally on one surface of a sheet-shaped magnet substrate.

In a preferred embodiment, the sheet has a pressed dry flower sealed bya resin film in a bag-shaped configuration.

In another embodiment, the sheet has a pressed dry flower sealed by alamination of a resin film in a bag-shaped configuration.

In a further embodiment, the sheet has a pressed dry flower sealed witha melting and securing of a hot melt material in a bag-shapedconfiguration.

In a further embodiment, the sheet-shaped magnet substrate is preparedby disposing a magnetic powder as a magnetic layer using a resin binderto a resin sheet and then magnetizing the magnetic layer.

In a further embodiment, the sheet-shaped magnet substrate is preparedby appending the sheet-shaped permanent magnet to a resin sheet.

Then, in a further embodiment of the present invention, the sheet isintegrated by melting and securing by a hot melt material to thesubstrate.

In a further embodiment, the sheet is appended and integrated by apressure sensitive adhesive material to the substrate.

In a further embodiment, the sheet has a cover film layer integrally tothe outermost layer.

In a further embodiment, the not melt material is a hot melt film or ahot melt powder.

In a further embodiment, a hot melt film, a pressed dry flower, a hotmelt film and, optionally, a cover film are placed successively on thesheet-shaped magnet. substrate and they are pressurized under heating ina reduced pressure atmosphere.

In a further embodiment, an intermediate layer having the pressed dryflower article being sealed therein by a molten resin and a transparentfilm surface layer thereabove are laminated and integrated on one sideof the sheet-shaped magnet substrate and wherein the intermediate layeris formed by pressurizing a melting porous resin film under heating invacuum and adhering the molten resin to the pressed flower articlethereby sealing the same, and secured to the substrate and thetransparent film surface layer by the molten resin.

In a further embodiment, the melting porous resin film has a threedimensional open cell structure.

In a further embodiment, the melting porous resin film has an averagepore size of 1.0 mm or less.

In a further embodiment, the melting porous resin film is melted at atemperature of 110° C. or lower.

In a further embodiment, the thickness of the intermediate layer inwhich the pressed flower article is adhered and sealed by melting of themelting porous resin film is 4000 μm or less.

In a further embodiment, the vacuum dried pressed flower article issealed in the intermediate layer such that bubbles are not substantiallypresent at the periphery of the flower article.

In a further embodiment, the thickness of the transparent film surfacelayer is 300 μm or less.

In a further embodiment, the transparent film surface layer is amulti-layered lamination film.

In a further embodiment, the transparent film surface layer has a hardcoat layer as the outermost surface layer.

In a further embodiment, the hot melt material is walled between thesheet-shaped magnet substrate and the intermediate layer.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a cross sectional perspective view showing a preferredembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view for the embodiment shown in FIG.1;

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing another embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a further embodiment which can beseparated by cut out;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view illustrating an application example for theembodiment shown in FIG. 4.

EXAMPLES

The invention of the present application having a unique feature asdescribed above is to be described more in details with reference to thedrawings.

FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 of the appended drawings show one embodiment of theinvention. FIG. 1 is a cross sectional perspective view of as acompleted article and FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view thereof.

At first, as illustrated in FIG. 1, a magnet sheet 11 is disposed to aresin sheet 12 to constitute a sheet-shaped magnet substrate 1, and asheet 3 in which a pressed dry flower 2 is sealed and fixed by a moltenfixing layer 31 of a hot melt material is integrally disposed on oneside of the sheet-shaped magnetic substrate. In this embodiment, thesheet 3 also has a cover film layer 32 as an uppermost layer.

FIG. 2 shows the constitution more in details in which a hot melt film311, a pressed dry flower 2, a hot melt film 312 and the cover film 32are disposed on the sheet-shaped magnet substrate 1, which are hotpressed in a reduced pressure atmosphere to melt the hot melt films 311,312 thereby melt-sealing the pressed dry flower 2 to form themelt-sealing layer 31 of the pressed dry flower as described-above andthey are integrally bonded with the sheet-shaped magnet substrate 1 andthe cover film 32.

In the embodiment described above instead of using the hot melt fixinglayer 31 by using the hot melt films 311, 312 as the hot melt material,the pressed dry flower 2 may be sealed by lamination using a laminatedresin film having an adhesive layer.

However, in the laminate article, since the pressed flower is actuallysealed only by the melt-sealing portion at the periphery thereof, it isnot always possible to cut out the pressed flower near the peripherythereof inward to the sealed portion for reuse. This is because thesealed state is lost and the pressed flower tends to be put to directcontact with external air and degradation proceeds rapidly. However,since the magnetically attachable sealed pressed flower article usingthe lamination described above can play a role, depending on the purposeand application use and, accordingly, it is useful to some extent.

On the other hand, use of the hot melt material can provide a novelsealed pressed dry flower article excellent in air and moisture barrierproperty and capable of keeping fine color and shape for a long periodof time. In this case, the pressed dry flower is sealed and encapsulatedby molten resin under a controlled reduced pressure atmosphere, whichhas attracted attention as an article of high quality.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the sheet-shaped magnet 11may be a permanent magnet as a sheet-shaped molding product or sinteringproduct. Alternatively, for providing the sheet-shaped magnet substrate1 with a more softness and flexibility, various kinds of magneticpowders may be laminated as a magnetic layer by using a resin binder tothe resin sheet 12 and then magnetized to form a magnet. In the case ofthe soft magnet, the sheet-shaped magnet 11 may be integrated with theresin sheet 12 by means of a bonding material or a pressure sensitiveadhesive material.

Further, depending on the kind and the adhesion of the sheet-shapedmagnet 11, a sheet 3 having the pressed dry flower sealed therein may beintegrated directly without using the resin sheet 12. When the resinsheet 12 is used, a resin sheet, for example, made of a vinyl chlorideresin, polyester, polyamide, epoxy resin or polyimide having arelatively high strength is used suitably.

The hot melt material is preferably used in the form of the hot meltfilm 311 or 312 as described above in view of the handlability and asealing property but it may be used in a powdery form. For example, inFIG. 2, a powdery hot melt material can be used in place of one or bothof the hot melt films 311 and the 312. Further, a porous film to bedescribed layer is useful.

In the invention, for making the sealing property of the pressed dryflower favorable, those hot melt materials excellent in affinity withcellulose, adhering closely to the surface tissue of the pressed dryflower and having good defoaming property under a reduced pressure suchas thermoplastic polyolefin, polyvinyl alcohol, polyvinyl acetate orpolyvinyl ether are suitably used since they are excellent in closebondability with the pressed dry flower and defoaming property.

For the cover film described above, an appropriate heat resistant filmmay be used, or a hardened layer may be formed by applying coating orspraying to the outermost surface of the sheet 3 integrated with thesheet-shaped magnet substrate 1 as a post treatment. In this case, anacrylic or methacrylic resin having more excellent light fastness may beused.

FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of the invention. In the embodimentshown in FIG. 3, a sheet 3 in which a pressed dry flower is sealed in ahot melt fixing layer 31 has a substrate 33 and appended and integratedto the sheet-shaped magnet substrate 1 by means of a pressure sensitiveadhesive material or a bonding material such as a both face adhesivetape material 4.

Further, as illustrated in FIG. 4, in a case of a magneticallyattachable sealed pressed flower article of the invention using the hotmelt material, it is preferred, for example, that the sheet-magnetsubstrate 1 and the sheet 3 can be separated integrally by usingscissors 5 near the periphery (A) of the pressed dry flower 2 in a stateit is sealed with the hot melt fixing layer 32.

In this embodiment, a plurality of pressed flowers 2A and 2B are assumedto be sealed. A desired pressed flower 2A is cut out near the periphery(A) thereof and can be appended magnetically as a decorative article 7to the metallic surface of an electric equipment such as a refrigerator6 or a furniture as shown in FIG. 5 and, further, it can be replacedwith other appropriate cut out decorative article or the magneticallyappended position may be changed.

The magnetically attachable sealed pressed flower article according tothe invention can be detachably disposed at a desired position bymagnetic attaching to attain the general purpose applicablility thereofand, at the same time, the conveniency and the decorative effect forfurniture and interiors can further be improved by making the articleseparable by cutting out as shown in the example of FIG. 4.

For making the article separable by cutting out, it is necessary thatthe sheet-shaped magnet substrate itself can be cut easily. In view ofthe above, a soft and flexible article formed by integrally laminating apowdery magnetic material by means of a binder resin onto a resin sheetas described above is suitable.

Further, in the sheet 3, the pressed dry flower is intimately sealed asfar as the surface portion by the hot melt material different fromexistent laminate articles, its sealing property is not lost even if thearticle is cut at a position just in the vicinity of the pressed flower.This can not be attained at all in the existent resin laminationproduct.

Further, the magnetically attachable sealed pressed flower article ofthe invention which is made separable by cutting out as in the exampleof FIG. 4 can be reused by cutting out a desired area. For example, evenafter the article has been used once as a card, a board or a sheet ofbusiness card, a desired pressed flower may be cut out along theperiphery thereof into a desired planar shape, for example, a circular,polygonal or any other various kinds of profiled shapes and can be usedagain as a decorative article utilizing magnetic attaching.

Referring further to the example more specifically, the melt fixingportion 31 using melting hot melt material shown in FIG. 1 can be mademore effective by using a melting porous resin film.

The melting porous resin film enables to release air and moisture at theperiphery and on the surface of the pressed dry flower 2 to the outsidethrough fine pores constituting the film when the film is melted undervacuum and also adhere closely to the pressed flower 2. Morespecifically, for effectively releasing air and moisture throughout theentire portion of the melting porous resin film, it is preferred thatthe film has a three dimensional open cell structure. Then, althoughdiffering somewhat depending on the type, it is necessary that the filmalso has a moderate melt adhesion for allowing embedding withoutdamaging the color, shape and the tissue of the pressed dry flower.

With the view point described above, it is preferred that the meltingporous resin film has a three dimensional open cell structure, and hasan average pore size of about 1.5 mm or less, for example, from 0.05 to1.5 mm, more preferably, about 1.0 mm or less, for example, from 0.1 to1.0 mm, which corresponds to ASTM sieve standard of 18 to 140 mesh orTYLER mesh of 16 to 150 mesh and has a porosity of about 85% or less,preferably, 30 to 80% and is melted and welded at a temperature of about120° C. or loser, preferably, 110° C. or lower and, further preferably,about from 60 to 85° C. Since the thickness of an intermediate layer asthe melting and fixing layer 31 is appropriately 4000 μm or less, moregenerally, about 100 to 1000 μm, it is appropriate that the meltingporous resin film is used by one to several sheets each having athickness of about 150to 1500 μm.

Referring to the average pore size, while depending also on thethickness of the film, if the average pore size is less than 0.05 mm,not only the film is not easily available but also the efficiency ofremoving air or moisture under vacuum tends to be lowered. Further, ifthe pore size increases in excess of 1.5 mm, the close adhesion of themolten resin to the pressed flower, that is, the fillage for embeddingtends to become insufficient. In view of the above, the melting porousresin film about 150 to 1500 μm in thickness appropriately has a meltingtemperature of about 110° C., more preferably, 60 to 85° C. and anaverage pore size of about 0.05 to 1.5 mm, more preferably, 1.0 mm orless and from 0.1 to 1.0 mm.

The melting porous resin film as described above is available as thoseprepared as a partial melting product of fine powder of the resin as thematerial, or a compact powder product thereof, those prepared as foamsor those prepared from films by irradiation of light, plasma orradioactive rays. The resin as the raw material is selected in view ofthe close adhesion and affinity with the pressed flower 2, meltingtemperature, flowability during melting and productivity of the porousfilm. They can include, for example, polyethylene, ethylene—ethylacrylate copolymer, ethylene—vinyl acetate copolymer, ethylene—acrylicacid copolymer and ethylene—methacrylic acid copolymer.

The ethylene—vinyl acetate copolymer is one of suitable materials andpartial saponification product thereof, for example, a product with 10mol % or less of saponification are preferred in view of the affinitywith the pressed flower.

For preparing an intermediate layer 30 by embedding and sealing thepressed flower 2 by such a melting porous resin film (referring to theterminology of “film”, it may be called also as a “sheet” with nosubstantial difference), it is appropriate to adopt a procedure, ofplacing a pressed dry flower 2 on the sheet-shaped magnet substrate 1,disposing thereon a melting porous film and a non-melting resin filmforming a transparent film surface layer successively, and pressurizingunder heating in a high vacuum atmosphere, or at first placing a meltingporous resin film on the sheet-shaped magnet substrate 1, placing thepressed flower 2 thereon, further placing a melting porous resin filmthereon again, placing the non-melting transparent resin film in thesame manner as described above and then pressurizing them under heatingin a high vacuum atmosphere. The latter means is adopted morepreferably.

A fine powder of the same resin as that of the melting porous resin filmmay be scattered previously on the peripheral surface in the vicinity ofthe pressed flower 2 and pressed under heating. Scattering of the finepowder is effective in a case of the pressed flower of a largerthickness. The grain size of the powder is preferably 0.5 mm or less and0.05 mm or more.

Further, the melting porous resin film and the fine powder preferablyhave high transparency for forming the intermediate layer by melting andhardening. This is because the sealed pressed flower 2 can exhibit itsbeautiful natural color more clearly through the transparent film. Apigment may also be added optionally such that the intermediate layer 3has a characteristic tone and gives more beautiful appearance incombination with the pressed flower 2. Also in this case, a hightransparency is of course desirable.

In the constitution of the invention described above, use of the meltingporous resin sheet enables to release air residues or bubbleseffectively to the outside without leaving them at the periphery and thevicinity of the surface of the pressed flower 2 under evacuation andclosely adhere the molten resin throughout the entire surface of thepressed flower 2 to bury and seal the same. Therefore, this enables toprevent the pressed flower 2 from denaturation and discoloration withremaining atmospheric oxygen or moisture for a long period of time andkeep natural clear color.

In such embedding sealing, even when an external force should damage thetransparent film surface layer 8, the sealed condition is not broken andthe pressed flower product does not suffer from degradation unless theinjury reaches the pressed flower 2. Further, a sealed pressed flowerarticle of a large surface area can be obtained by the use of themelting porous resin film. This is because air is rapidly released overthe entire area by evacuation. This can be also attained in a case wherea plurality of pressed flowers 2 of different kind and thickness arearranged on one identical plane, and pressed flower articles ofexcellent decoration performance having a large area can be providedsuch as for wall boards and partitionings.

Further, according to the invention, the article can be used again bycutting out as described above. Since a desired area can be cut out andutilized separately so long the cutting out does not effect the pressedflower 2. For instance, the sealed pressed flower article of theinvention can be cut out and re-used as a part of a message card ortelegram substrate paper. This is because the pressed flower 2 isentirely adhered with the molten resin to form the hardened intermediatelayer 30.

The pressed flower 2 may be various kinds of flowers dried under vacuumand it may be an appropriate combination of petals, leaves, stalks orseeds of various kinds of flowering plants such as cosmos, pansy,Gypsophila elegans, rose and wheat.

Preferably, the transparent film surface layer is not melted uponpressurization under heating for forming the intermediate layer, hashigh transparency and less suffers from injury, wear and photo-orthermal degradation at the outermost surface thereof.

There is no particular restriction on the thickness of the film but itis usually about 300 μm or less and 40 to 300 μm in view of theproduction cost and the transparency. The transparent film surface layermay be a multi-layered structure with a portion in contact with theintermediate layer 30 having a good adhesion and the outermost surfacethereof having a hard coat layer of high hardness, less tending to beinjured and resistant to light and heat. For example, an adhesive layer,particularly, a thermally adhesive layer (heat sealing layer) may bedisposed to the transparent film on the side of the intermediate layer30 and a hard coat layer may be disposed to the outermost layer thereof.

In this case, as the transparent film, a film of polyester,polycarbonate, polypropylene or PET having satisfactory transparency andheat resistance may be used. As the thermally adhesive layer, it may beconsidered to use a film that exhibits adhesion upon pressurizationunder heating at a temperature of about 60 to 100° C. The film caninclude, for example, polyethylene, ethylene—ethyl acrylate copolymerand ethylene—vinyl acetate copolymer. Further, the hard coat layer caninclude, for example, an inorganic film such as made of silicon oxide ororganic film such as made of acrylic resin, organic silicon resin orrigid urethane resin. Then, fine silica particles or fine particles ofTiO₂, ZrO₂ and SnO₂ may be dispersed to the hard coat layer forproviding the surface with the wear resistance and theanti-reflectivity. Further, fine electroconductive particles such asmade of ITO (Indium Tin Oxide) may be dispersed for avoidingelectrostatic deposition of dusts on the surface.

Provision of the anti-reflectivity or anti-static performance canimprove the color of the sealed pressed flower 2 more clearly.

The thickness of the adhesive film is preferably about from 10 to 200 μmand the thickness of the hard coat. layer is preferably about from 1 to4 μm.

The adhesive film or the hard coat layer is not always necessary. Theconstitution for the transparent film surface layer is determineddepending on the application use of the sealed pressed flower article.

For improving the adhesion of the sheet-shaped magnet, the adhesivelayer described above may be disposed or the surface may be roughened bya plasma or etching treatment to provide an anchoring effect.

When the sheet-shaped magnet substrate 1 is constituted with thesheet-shaped magnet 11 and the resin sheet 12, the resin sheet 12 may bea laminate of resin layers. The laminate may be constituted upon formingthe sheet-shaped magnet substrate 1, or the resin layers may belaminated after the formation of the substrate. The resin sheet may belaminated, for example, by laminating, resin layers on the sheet-shapedmagnet successively as shown by the following examples.

EXAMPLE 1

vinyl chloride resin (PVC)

Polypropylene (PP)

Polyethylene (PE)

EXAMPLE 2

Vinyl chloride resin (PVC)

Polypropylene (PP)

EXAMPLE 3

Vinyl chloride resin (PVC)

Polyethylene (PE)

EXAMPLE 4

Vinyl chloride resin (PVC)

Ethylene—Vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA)

EXAMPLE 5

Polyester (PET)

Polyethylene (PE)

Ethylene—Vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA)

The plasma or corona treatment described above may be applied to thesurface of the polypropylene or polyethylene layer to improve theanchoring effect.

Then, when the resin sheet 12 is used as a flat substrate, the inventionalso provides a constitution free from curing or twisting. Further, as abackground for making the tone of the sealed pressed flower 2 moreclearly, the tone of the substrate 1 may be controlled.

That is, in the invention, curling or twisting of the substrate 1 causedby pressurization under heating can be suppressed effectively bylaminating and integrating a plurality of films (sheets) such as made ofvinyl chloride resin, polyester, polycarbonate, polysulfone orpolypropylene having relatively excellent shape retainability. Further,the background effect of the substrate can be enhanced further bydisposing a color print layer or a color compounded layer to theintermediate layer, the outermost layer or both of the layers in thelaminated structure.

For example, a white film (sheet) is used for the substrate, which islaminated by way of a thermally adhesive layer or the like as theadhesive layer together with a color print layer. The color print layeris not always necessary in a case where the tone of the pressed flower 2is shown as it is relative to the background color of the white film butthe print layer is disposed in a case of changing the background coloror a decorative background is used.

Further, in a case where the intermediate layer 30 has a somewhat sombertone the tone of the pressed flower can be made clear by the provisionof a color print layer or a color compounded layer of cream color.

The adhesive layer may be constituted in the same manner as describedabove. When the substrate comprises a plurality of films (sheets), thethickness is generally about from 20 to 200 μm and the thickness of theadhesive layer is preferably about from 10 to 100 μm.

There is no restriction on the thickness of the sheet-shaped magnetsubstrate 1 and it is, for example, about from 0.1 to 10 mm with apractical point of view. The entire thickness of the resin sheet 12 isabout 2000 gm or less and, more preferably, about from 100 to 1000 μm.

The color print layer or the color compounded layer uses any appropriatepigmenting ink, pigment or dye and, further, it may be designed by metalpowder, adhesion or vapor deposition thereof.

The invention is to be explained more in details with reference toexamples.

EXAMPLE 1

A cotton cloth was placed and a sheet-shaped magnet substrate was placedthereon in a plane area (300×300 mm) surrounded with rubber membersdisposed at four corners on a support bed having open holes for vacuumsuction by using a press bonding apparatus under vacuum. Thesheet-shaped magnet substrate has the following constitution andthickness from the upper layer to the lower layer:

Polythylene (PE) 20 μm Polypropylene (PP) 30 μm White vinyl chlorideresin (PVC) 0.5 mm Sheet-shaped magnet 1.5 mm

On the substrate, were stacked, successively, a melting porous resinfilm comprising ethylene—vinyl acetate copolymer of 0.6 mm thicknesshaving melting point of 75° C., an average pore size of about 0.2 mm anda thickness of 0.6 mm (corresponding to ASTM 70 mesh), vacuum presseddry flower of pansy, the same melting porous resin film as describedabove and a transparent film comprising a PET film of 150 μm thicknessand pressed from above by about 1 atm under vacuum in a state as closeras an absolute vacuum degree of 760 mmHg at a temperature of about 80°C.

In the thus obtained magnetically attachable sealed pressed flowerarticle, the intermediate layer was 800 μm in thickness, the transparentfilm surface layer was 150 μm in thickness, the pressed flower is sealedbeing adhered with the molten resin in the intermediate layer and airresidues or bubbles were not observed at all.

Further, neither curling nor twisting was observed for the substrate.

The pressed flower kept natural tone over the long period of 6 months ormore and the tone was clear and beautiful.

EXAMPLE 2

In Example 1, a melting porous resin sheet comprising a 5 mol % partialsaponification product and, having an average pore size of 0.5 mm and athickness of 1.3 mm (corresponding to ASTM 35 mesh) was used in Example1 to form an intermediate layer of about 1000 μm thickness. Amagnetically attachable sealed pressed flower article of excellentquality like that in Example 1 was obtained.

In any of the examples described above, when the article was cut outtogether with the magnet by scissors into a desired shape, it could beutilized again with no destruction for the sealing condition asmagnetically attachable decorative articles.

It will be appreciated that the invention is no way restricted by theexamples described above but various modifications are possible.

As has been described above specifically, according to the invention ofthe present application, the degree of freedom such as in selection andalteration of position for attachment or the exchange of pressed flowerscan be improved for the sealed pressed flower, by detachable magneticattaching and the general applicability can be improved greatly.

The foregoing effect can be further improved in those adopted forseparation by cutting out. Further, an article once used can also beutilized again.

What is claimed is:
 1. A magnetically attachable sealed pressed flowerarticle comprising an intermediate layer comprising a sheet, a presseddry flower being sealed and fixed in the sheet by a melting and securingof a hot melt material, the sheet being disposed integrally on one sideof a sheet-shaped magnet substrate.
 2. A magnetically attachable sealedpressed flower article according to claim 1, wherein the sheet-shapedmagnet substrate comprises a magnetic powder that acts as a magneticlayer attached to a resin sheet via a resin binder and wherein saidmagnetic layer is magnetized.
 3. A magnetically attachable sealedpressed flower article according to claim 1, wherein the intermediatelayer is a resin sheet and the sheet-shaped magnet substrate is preparedby appending a sheet-shaped permanent magnet to the resin sheet.
 4. Themagnetically attachable sealed pressed flower article according to claim1, wherein the intermediate layer is formed by appending and integratingthe hot melt material to the sheet.
 5. The magnetically attachablesealed pressed flower article according to claim 1, wherein theintermediate layer is appended and integrated with the magneticsubstrate by a pressure sensitive adhesive material.
 6. The magneticallyattachable sealed pressed flower article according to claim 1, furthercomprising a transparent cover film layer over the intermediate layerserving as an outermost layer.
 7. The magnetically attachable sealedpressed flower article according to claim 6, wherein the thickness ofthe transparent cover film is 300 μm or less.
 8. The magneticallyattachable sealed pressed flower article according to claim 6, whereinthe transparent cover film is a multi-layered lamination film.
 9. Themagnetically attachable sealed pressed flower article according to claim6 further comprising a hard coat layer over the transparent cover filmserving as the outermost surface layer.
 10. The magnetically attachablesealed pressed flower article according to claim 6, further comprising ahot melt material between the sheet-shaped magnet substrate and theintermediate layer.
 11. The magnetically attachable sealed pressedflower article according to claim 1, wherein the hot melt material is ahot melt film or hot melt powder.
 12. The magnetically attachable sealedpressed flower article according to claim 1, wherein the intermediatelayer has a thickness of 4000 μm or less.
 13. A method for producing amagnetically attachable sealed pressed flower article, comprising thesteps of: layering successively a first hot melt film, a pressed dryflower, a second hot melt film and a sheet-shaped magnet substrate; andhot-pressing the layers under.
 14. The method for producing themagnetically attachable sealed pressed flower article according to claim13, further comprising the step of: layering a transparent cover filmover the first hot melt film.
 15. The method for producing themagnetically attachable sealed pressed flower article according to claim13, wherein the first hot melt film and second hot melt film are porousresin films.
 16. The method for producing the magnetically attachablesealed pressed flower article of claim 15, wherein each porous resinfilm has a three-dimensional open cell structure.
 17. The method forproducing the magnetically attachable sealed pressed flower articleaccording to claim 15, wherein each porous resin film has an averagepore size of 1.0 mm or less.
 18. The method for producing themagnetically attachable sealed pressed flower article according to claim15, wherein each porous resin film has a melting temperature of 110° C.or lower.